Changes in the Value of Life, 1940–1980

We present the first nationwide value of life estimates for the United States at more than one point in time. Our estimates are for every ten years between 1940 and 1980, a period when declines in fatal accident rates were historically unprecedented. Our estimated elasticity of value of life with respect to per capita GNP is 1.5 to 1.7. We illustrate the importance of rising value of life for policy evaluation by examining the benefits of improved longevity since 1900. Our estimated elasticity implies that the current marginal increase in longevity is more valuable than the large increase in the first half of the twentieth century.     

Ant Colony System for a Dynamic Vehicle Routing Problem

An aboundant literature on vehicle routing problems is available. However, most of the work deals with static problems, where all data are known in advance, i.e. before the optimization has started. The technological advances of the last few years give rise to a new class of problems, namely the dynamic vehicle routing problems, where new orders are received as time progresses and must be dynamically incorporated into an evolving schedule. In this paper a dynamic vehicle routing problem is examined and a solving strategy, based on the Ant Colony System paradigm, is proposed. Some new public domain benchmark problems are defined, and the algorithm we propose is tested on them. Finally, the method we present is applied to a realistic case study, set up in the city of Lugano (Switzerland).     

Knowledge management for food supply chain synergies – a maturity level analysis of SME companies

Abstract

Despite the considerable number of papers addressing knowledge management (KM) aspects in supply chains, many research issues in the area are still neglected. One of the main research gaps in this field concerns the maturity level of KM practices adoption by small and medium enterprises (SMEs). This paper addresses this research gap by developing a framework to support the analysis of the maturity level of KM adoption in an SME context. The framework is applied in a multiple case study developed to investigate the extent to which SMEs operating in the food sector are deploying KM practices to support more sustainable initiatives. By relating KM maturity levels, perspectives and processes to sustainable practices concerning food waste and by-product synergies, the paper makes an original contribution to advance theory and practice in the area. The paper also points out potential barriers that companies face to implement sustainability-related KM practices.     

Division of Labour and the Locus of Inventive Activity

This paper argues that modularity of knowledge andtechnologies has important implications for the locusof inventive activities. This is because modularityallows for a separation of the innovation process intwo main activities: The production of basic(standardised) modules, and their combination toproduce variants of technologies or product designsthat are better suited to the special needs ofindividual users or markets. This gives rise to adivision of labour whereby the production of moduleswill be performed by specialised upstream suppliers(who enjoy economies of scale), while the combinationof modules will be performed by firms furtherdownstream or by the users themselves. We then suggestthat this pattern can explain a variety of phenomenasuch as why users co-produce their innovations, andhow small regions can support innovative activitydespite the apparent efficiency advantage of largerregions.     

Traces of the Second Demographic Transition in Four Selected Countries in Central and Eastern Europe: Union Formation as a Demographic Manifestation

Using data from the first round of the national Gender and Generations Surveys of Russia, Romania, and Bulgaria, and from a similar survey of Hungary, which were all collected in recent years, we study rates of entry into marital and non-marital unions. We have used elements from the narrative of the Second Demographic Transition (SDT) as a vehicle to give our analysis of the data from the four countries some coherence, and find what can be traces of the SDT in these countries. The details vary by country; in particular, latter-day developments in union formation patterns did not start at the same time in all the countries, but in our assessment it began everywhere before communism fell, that is, before the societal transition to a market economy got underway in 1990.

Early traces of the Second Demographic Transition in Bulgaria: a joint analysis of marital and non-marital union formation, 1960-2004

We explore trends in first-union formation in Bulgaria from 1960, using data from the national Gender and Generations Survey of 2004. We analyse jointly the transition into cohabitation and directly into marriage. The standardized marriage rate falls dramatically from the early 1980s; the corresponding rate of entry into cohabitation has already increased from the early 1960s but (surprisingly) falls moderately toward the end of our period. Cohabitation also tends to last progressively longer in more recent periods. The analysis shows that a pregnancy leads to a dramatic increase in the rate of both kinds of union formation: the increase is by a factor of almost 20 for marriage formation and about 10 for entry into cohabitation, ceteris paribus. Our findings suggest that, in Bulgaria at least, some manifestations of the Second Demographic Transition can be detected as early as the 1980s.     

Measuring university-based research in Europe: competing indicators and underlying assumptions

Modern societies have a growing need for information and numbers for governing social life. Numbers have the ability to represent a complex reality in a simplified and linear form, easily communicated. Far from being the product of a mere technical process, numbers are the result of a process that “is fundamentally social – an artifact of human action, imagination, ambition, accomplishment” (Espeland, W.N., and Stevens, M.L., 2008. A sociology of quantification. European journal of sociology, 49 (3), 401–436, p. 431). In the modern policy-making climate, numbers become key mechanisms for simplifying, classifying, comparing and evaluating. Along with this, the fields of visibility of evaluative objects, meanings and understandings (Dean, M., 2010. Governmentality. Power and rule in modern societies. 2nd ed. London: Sage) are re-framed consistently with what Clarke, J. (2004. Changing welfare, changing states. New direction in social policy. London: Sage) terms a ‘performance/evaluation nexus’ that links effort, values, purposes and self-understanding to measures and comparisons of outputs (Ball, S.J., 2012. Performativity, commodification and commitment: an I-Spy guide to the neoliberal university. British journal of educational studies, 601, 17–28). In this paper, we focus on the field of higher education (HE), where numbers, in the form of performance indicators, benchmarks and headline targets, are frequently used to strategically orient the sector towards the objectives and goals of the Bologna Process and of the overall Europe 2020 agenda (Waldow, F., 2014. From taylor to tyler to no child left behind: legitimating educational standards. Prospects, 45 (1), 49–62). We aim to offer a comparative overview of the complex spectrum of metrics, provided at the supranational level, within the field of higher education by focusing on the European Research Area (ERA) in order to map and analyse some of the crucial issues in play. A second ambition of this paper is to move from a mapping and analytical perspective to a deconstruction of a specific subset of research metrics, with the aim of challenging the ‘self-evident truths’ and the dominant conventional wisdom that define current European metrics in order to bring into question whether they contribute to restructuring the universities’ research environments, affecting research policies and procedures. Performance indicators are posited to be‘conceptual technologies’, encompassing theoretical and normative assumptions that shape the objects they aspire to measure.     

New labour rights indicators: Method and trends for 2000–15

This article describes a new method for constructing indicators of freedom of association and collective bargaining (FACB) rights based on the coding of violations in nine textual sources, including six from the ILO, and texts from national legislation. The indicators were constructed for 185 ILO member States for five years between 2000 and 2015 and launched in 2015 by the Center for Global Workers’ Rights at Penn State University, together with the Global Labour University. Following a Resolution by the International Conference of Labour Statisticians in October 2018, the method provides the basis for Sustainable Development Goal indicator 8.8.2 on labour rights.     

Determinants and barriers to lean implementation in food-processing SMEs – a multiple case analysis

This study explored contextual or determining factors and their impacts on lean manufacturing in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in food-processing industries. In order to get an in-depth insight into the real situation at the work floor, this study adopted a multiple-case-study research approach. The inherent characteristics of food industries, such as mandatory quality assurance requirements, low shelf life of food products, and the extremely volatile demand and supply presented barriers to lean manufacturing adoption. In addition, the challenges of ‘change’ in an SME environment are distinct from those faced by large organizations. The small size of the plant, the traditional setup, and inflexible layout make it difficult to implement lean manufacturing in food-processing SMEs. The knowledge of contextual factors influencing lean manufacturing adoption in food processing SMEs will be a contribution to current knowledge. Many studies have explored lean constructs and tools, while far fewer have explored the crucial element of actually implementing these. The study will also help practitioners to anticipate potential obstacles and take proper measures to deal with them during lean implementation.     

Who Really Wins? Efficacy of a Croatian Youth Gambling Prevention Program

This paper reports on the development and pilot evaluation of a Croatian school-based youth gambling prevention program “Who really wins?”. The program is aimed at minimizing risk and enhancing protective factors related to youth gambling. A short-term evaluation of the program was conducted with a sample of 190 first and second year high-school students (67.6% boys, aged 14–17 years; average age 15.61). An experimental design with two groups (Training vs. No Training) and two measurement sessions (pre-test and post-test sessions) was used to evaluate change in problem gambling awareness, cognitive distortions, knowledge of the nature of random events as well as in social skills. Results showed significant changes in the post-test sessions, which can be attributed to changes in the Training group. We observed a decrease in risk factors, namely better knowledge about gambling and less gambling related cognitive distortions. Immediate effects on protective factors such as problem solving skills, refusal skills, and general self-efficacy were not observed. Findings also show program effects to be the same for both boys and girls, students from different types of schools, for those with different learning aptitudes, as well as for those at different risk levels with regard to their gambling, which speaks in favour of the program’s universality. The program had no iatrogenic effects on behaviour change and shows promise as an effective tool for youth gambling prevention. Future research and a long-term evaluation are needed to determine whether the observed changes are also linked to behavioural change.